Israel police grill Arab MK for alleged phone smuggling

By Anees Barghouti

JERUSALEM (AA) - Israeli police on Tuesday questioned an Arab member of the Knesset (Israel's parliament) on suspicions that he had smuggled cell phones to jailed Hamas members, Israeli media has reported.

According to Israeli Radio, police summoned MK Basel Ghattas on Monday night to answer allegations that he had smuggled cell phones to Palestinian prisoners in southern Israel’s Ktzi'ot Prison.

Israeli police, the broadcaster added, had also slapped Ghattas with a travel ban.

Likud Party MK Gilad Erdan, who serves as Israel’s minister for public security and strategic affairs, called for Ghattas’ removal from the Knesset if he was found guilty of smuggling phones to prison inmates.

"I think we should act wisely and use -- assuming the evidence against him will be considered reliable evidence -- all legal tools we have at our disposal," Erdan was quoted as saying by Hebrew-language daily Yedioth Ahronoth.

"I hope that things will be proven and he will be arrested and put in jail for several years," he asserted.

Ghattas countered by saying the accusations against him were aimed at undermining Arab political leadership in Israel.

"This is an attempt to break the backbone of the Arabs and their political progress in this country," he declared in a statement.